The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for attaching decorative articles to a fabric material In particular it relates to such a method and apparatus for attaching decorative jewelry articles having adhesive backing to a fabric in a decorative pattern.
Decorative jewelry articles such as rhinestones may be purchased in patterns attached to transfer tape. In order to attach such articles to a fabric material it is required to peel a backing material from the transfer tape exposing an adhesive backing on the decorative articles, place the adhesive backing in contact with a fabric material and apply heat by a pressing or ironing method to cause the fabric to adhere to the decorative articles, and then remove the tape. The major drawback to that method is the high cost associated with purchasing the articles attached to the transfer tape, that cost being due to the laborious methods used to place the articles on the tape. Furthermore one is limited to the patterns that are predetermined by the manufacturer of the loaded transfer tape. Although custom patterns may be ordered, that further increases the expense and the delay associated with obtaining the loaded tapes.
The present invention overcomes this limitation by providing a loader plate that allows the convenient manipulation of decorative articles in a virtually unlimited number of decorative patterns and a method of using the plate to facilitate the loading and adhesion of the decorative articles to fabric. The system allows the avoidance of the high fixed cost associated with orders of limited quantities of preset transfer designs thereby also avoiding accumulative inventories.